Don't remember ANYTHING about Statistics

[SeaSquirt]

I took Stats 3 years ago in college. I wish I could say I've retained something from it, but I can't say I have. The program I'm going to has three mandatory Stats classes (some only have two) and a strong emphasis on Stats (since it's more of a research-oriented program).

When I met with the current grad students, they told me they used to be bad at Stats and can now say they actually understand it. They told me not to bother auditing an undergraduate Stats class at a community college this summer. (I asked.)

I'm a little nervous about jumping into a graduate level Statistics course when I can't remember anything about Stats. Thoughts?

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[EquestriAnn]

The school I am most likely going to is known for their stats, I'm scared too! I got a behavioral statistics book from half.com to "review" before I start, but I'm sure I won't do much I've heard that the first class is usually a review and not too hard but the second is killer

 

[SingleGirl]

I was just talking about this tonight w/my sister who is getting her MSN and has to take stats this summer.

I do not remember anything from my stats class except that my professor was an incredibly old school man who considered himself a statistician instead of a psychologist. My exam took 3 hrs and was 13 pages (front and back) handwritten and was only like 4-5 questions I think??

Traumatizing.

Good luck, you guys will be ok.

 

[Ollie123]

You'll encounter plenty of "statistician" professors in grad school too. They're often taught by the quant/psychometrics folks so don't expect to escape that style

I was nervous about it too going in but its always doable. I think VERY few people come out of undergrad with anything approaching on the level of stats knowledge you'll be getting in grad school. In my experience, they will move fast, but will start from the beginning.

PS 3 isn't bad. We have 4 and alot of people take even more

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Any books people could suggest for people wanting to get re-acquainted with stats? (This concerns pops up a lot going into first year).

 

[Ollie123]

Hays, 5th edition.

Just kidding, don't actually buy that. Its probably the worst book imaginable if your goal is "review" since its the hardest textbook I've ever had to read. Really in depth though, and its the first year "stats bible".

"Reading and understanding multivariate statistics" and "Reading and understanding more multivariate statistics" are both fantastic, brief, and give you the basics of what you need to know. They're not a replacement for a stats course since you won't know much about how to actually do some of the more complex procedures after reading them, but you'll know enough not to crap your pants when you see a really ugly output

 

[SingleGirl]

ugh, just the word "multivariate" gave me reflux...

Is that a bad sign?

 

[JockNerd]

Andy. Field. Discovering statistics using spss.

Perfect combo of the theoretical and "this is how you do it in spss" sides of stats. It's only like $50 or something, and comes with a cd with data sets so you can practice techniques in spss.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

ugh, just the word "multivariate" gave me reflux...

Is that a bad sign?

Nah, wait until you have a pile 'o data staring at you, and it starts taunting you. I don't mean literally, but after awhile it seems like it is just waiting for you to do something with it, but when you try it is like the computer threw up last night's leftovers....and instead of a nice, easily explained output, you get......everything else.

 

[Ollie123]

I like that one too

Come to think of it, it might have been you who suggested I get it last year....someone on this board did. If it was, thanks

 

[joshie6891]

Does anyone happen to have any good online tutorials for understanding statistics? I'm taking a stats class through the stats department right now (I took intro stats through the psych dept two years ago) and I'm struggling a little with the material compared to the psych class, which I breezed through.

 

[SingleGirl]

Nah, wait until you have a pile 'o data staring at you, and it starts taunting you. I don't mean literally, but after awhile it seems like it is just waiting for you to do something with it, but when you try it is like the computer threw up last night's leftovers....and instead of a nice, easily explained output, you get......everything else.

My roommate did my data analysis for my social work research... but I'm doing an additional research project this fall that will be for the county. I think I'm pretty screwed b/c I never learned how to use SPSS.

Shortcuts never pay.... never, never.

 

[Duckygirl]

Hey guys~
I use this online math program called ALEKS, as in like, smart aleks (www.aleks.com), with a tutoring client. She's working on re-mastering elementary school math, but this program has the capacity to throw you even college-level behavioral statistics. It will give you an initial assessment, and then based on that assessment, the program will start developing online math lessons at the level you are at. It will continue to give you periodic assessments to see what concepts you have mastered, and then adjust the content of your math lessons accordingly. It doesn't have super-advanced statistics topics, but if you're anything like me and took your last stats class 7 years ago, it could be a great refresher.

The program is available online, and is moderated by a computer, not by an instructor, so you can do lessons at any pace and move as quickly (or as slowly) as your like. It's $20 a month, but I've found it's an invaluable practice tool for some of the students I work with because sometimes it's not enough to just "review" or read over old math that you once knew, it can be more helpful for some to actually do some calculations and get in some practice. If by the grace of God some school decides to let me in this fall, I will be using this program to get back into statistics before I start school.

Hope this helps!

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

*MOD NOTE: Just an FYI, SDN doesn't allow people to publicly offer full classes worth of information to others. If people have questions about a topic brought up, then they can PM that person. -t*

 

[spillsomepaint]

Any books people could suggest for people wanting to get re-acquainted with stats? (This concerns pops up a lot going into first year).

Any other book recommendations? I've scoured my universities statistics section in the library and all the books either are checked out by grad students, or they only devote the last 30 pages to inferential statistics. Not that I mind getting a refresher on the more general and descriptive stuff. Any suggestions for someone who really wants to understand this stuff, not just be able to apply it?

 

[quistyliz]

Andy. Field. Discovering statistics using spss.

Perfect combo of the theoretical and "this is how you do it in spss" sides of stats. It's only like $50 or something, and comes with a cd with data sets so you can practice techniques in spss.

You can preview the entire book on Google Books! It looks really good, I might get myself a copy in preparation because I can't remember anything from undergrad stats courses either. I thought I would be able to brush up with my volunteering duties, but most of what I do is just data cleanup and it seems my vague knowledge of SPSS surpasses that of most of the clinicians I work with, lol.

 

[spillsomepaint]

You can preview the entire book on Google Books! It looks really good, I might get myself a copy in preparation because I can't remember anything from undergrad stats courses either. I thought I would be able to brush up with my volunteering duties, but most of what I do is just data cleanup and it seems my vague knowledge of SPSS surpasses that of most of the clinicians I work with, lol.

Hmm google only give me a limited preview. damn i guess this means I should just buy a copy...or maybe try to request it through Illiad.

 

[quistyliz]

It says it's a limited preview, but if you scroll through you'll notice it's hundreds and hundreds of pages, and the last page is the back of the book. So without going through every single page to verify, I'm assuming that means the whole thing is up

 

[JockNerd]

There's a fairly good chance that the Field book will be required for your first-year class anyway (it is for both clinical and counseling psych stats at my grad school). Plus, nearly every prof and grad student here has it sitting on their bookshelf because it's an excellent quick reference if a stats procedure slips your mind. I'd just buy it.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

There's a fairly good chance that the Field book will be required for your first-year class anyway (it is for both clinical and counseling psych stats at my grad school). Plus, nearly every prof and grad student here has it sitting on their bookshelf because it's an excellent quick reference if a stats procedure slips your mind. I'd just buy it.

It's being added to my collection, as I need a quick reference. Of course, that is exactly what I need, is another book. I just did some spring cleaning and I have probably 4-5 boxes worth of books I need to store.....as I "need" them, just not right now. Ugh.

 

[spillsomepaint]

I always kind of assumed in graduate school you didn't use textbooks as much. I understand their will be some 'staple texts' but is it like undergrad where you are expected to buy some really broad textbook for a subject even though you end up barely using it if you attend class?

 

[quistyliz]

I was told by a current grad student in my program that there are pretty much no textbooks. Lots of readings obviously, but you won't be spending upwards of $400 each semester on textbooks like you did in undergrad. Then again, this probably varies by school/program...

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I was told by a current grad student in my program that there are pretty much no textbooks. Lots of readings obviously, but you won't be spending upwards of $400 each semester on textbooks like you did in undergrad. Then again, this probably varies by school/program...

It isn't that I have a lot of books for my classes, but I have a lot of supplemental stuff, probably 5-7 assessment related books, a bunch of books on various conceptualizations/theories, and a bunch of neuro/pharma books. I end up using a lot of coupons and GCs for books....so I don't mind buying the books as supplementals.

 

[toby jones]

Google certainly doesn't provide the whole thing for free with their preview feature. They leave out pages in the preview. You don't get more than would exceed copyright (so certainly not more than 10% of the book or one whole chapter). They usually chop out the interesting parts of the chapter, in particular.

Since you know where you are going and who the stats profs are going to be how about checking out whether they run any undergrad stats classes? If they do then those textbooks might be a place to start. Alternatively, if you email them for reccomendations I'm sure they would be impressed by your interest.

Personally... I always found that getting the coursebooks well before the start of the semester and working through those helped me out immensely.

 

[JockNerd]

Since you know where you are going and who the stats profs are going to be how about checking out whether they run any undergrad stats classes?

Oh yeah, the op said he/she knows where he/she is going. Duh-uuuh, I change my vote to this plan. But also still buy the Field book. If the class uses something else the Field book is still better.

 

[spillsomepaint]

Oh yeah, the op said he/she knows where he/she is going. Duh-uuuh, I change my vote to this plan. But also still buy the Field book. If the class uses something else the Field book is still better.

Haha, I caved. I was in NYC yesterday attending an open house for admitted students at my grad school, and I walked by a used textbook store and just bought it.

 

[Cosmo75]

My program only requires 2 stats classes (PsyD), but I'm a closet stats junkie so I was kind of disappointed

For books I recommend Meyers et al. "Applied Multivariate Research" because it breaks the stats down into 2 chapters each - 1 about what the heck it is, and the other about how to use SPSS with the method and how to read the output. For basic stats, I kept my undergrad book Gravetter's "Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences." That one is pretty easy to reference as well.

I heard a rumor that if you dump your cookies while looking at a book on google books, that the pages that were hidden originally will become visible. I haven't actually tried that though.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Here is a link I just stumbled across in my bookmarks....I'm not sure why/when I found it, but I figured it could be helpful for people wanting a pretty decent reference for basics stuff.

http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/stathome.html?stbasic.html&1

 

[lbg1114]

I went into grad school and didn't remember anything about stats either and boy was it hard. The stats prof was really more of a researcher than a teacher (or a psychologist) and he stunk. I wish I had spent the summer reviewing. It's worth the time. I'd say any undergrad stats book would be fine. Even Statistics for the Terrified is a good place to start. Take it seriously and review.

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